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Yesterday I broke down and vacuumed. I actually don’t mind vacuuming, it’s sweeping that every strand of my DNA opposes. The only reason I don’t vacuum more often (like every second day) is because I only have carpet in the bedrooms and it likely scratches my floor more than cleans. Also I understand how thin the floors and ceilings are, that my vacuuming sound might as well be in my neighbour’s apartments, above and below. Still, every now and again I vacuum. And sometimes I force myself to sweep. Other than crumbs inadvertently being swept from the counter to the floor in the kitchen, my floors don’t really get that dirty. Dust bunnies tend to grow, but not much by way of sand or dirt. So yesterday as I was vacuuming, hoping I wasn’t interrupting anyone’s nap or drowning out their television program, I thought to myself there has to be a better way. There must be a way I can continue this gliding across the floor motion to pick up the dust bunnies in a non-motorized more ear-friendly fashion. And suddenly an image of my mother swiffing her living room popped into my head. Eureka! I need a Swiffer!

I immediately called my mother to see if anyone was coming into town shopping. Because it’s been really cold. Because a Swiffer is kind of long and awkward to carry from downtown to my apartment. Because secretly I also wanted to look around for a bookcase. She told me my sister and brother-in-law were coming into town but to pick up pellets for their stove, so they would be removing all but essential seating from their van. Oh well, I shrugged. I’ll just add it to my list.

Lucky for me (not so lucky for them) the pellets were sold out so they didn’t remove their seats and came to pick me up instead. I came home armed with the Dollar Store version of the Swiffer, which I’m told is just as good as the brand name. We shall see how it works out. I couldn’t find any bookcases that I loved, which was kind of depressing considering I looked at Renaud’s, Kent’s, Zellers and Wal-Mart. There are not a whole lot of places left on the river to buy such an item. Perhaps Staples? Lounsbury’s? Canadian Tire? Home Hardware? Bargain Giant? Okay, maybe there are still a lot of places left to look.

I bought some cheapo dvds at Zellers and when I got home, after I had supper, I pretty much just got into my jammies and went to bed with dvds. Watched one, which totally awakened that urge to go to Italy. Started to watch another but was too tired to keep my eyes opened. Fell asleep shortly after 11, woke up at about a quarter to five. It was frigging cold in the room, took me until around 6 before I could convince myself to get out from under the warm covers.

Last night I dreamed we were having a party on the shore out by Howard’s field. There used to be a lane that went out, not the lane to Howard’s trailer, but another one down below that the sports would use to get out to their trailers. Not sure if it’s still there or not. In the dream it was overgrown with switch grass. It was late summer, kind of damp and cold, coming on dark. Me, Stacy and Carol were walking out to meet everyone for a party. It got dark as we were going out the overgrown lane. We could hear a car slow down and turn into the lane, see the headlights, so we jumped off to the side so the vehicle wouldn’t accidentally run us over in this tall grass. It was Jenn and Jason in their van. They couldn’t see us as they drove past. We came back out on the road and kept going down the hill, then another vehicle came and we went off into the woods. This time it was Gary, Sherry and kids in an extended cab half-ton (not Dad’s, but navy coloured). Gary had his window down so I think we must have sung out to him because for some reason they noticed us and stopped where Jen and Jason hadn’t. The three of us climbed onto the back and road out to the party.

At the shore there was a spot about the size of a queen-sized bed where the long grass had been flattened. This was at the edge of a small drop (maybe 4-5 feet) right into the water. The water was high, dirty and rushing like there had been a lot of rain. I was terrified of the girls falling in. Jenn and Jason weren’t out there, we were the first to arrive. Gary put on a small fire in the centre and we all sat pretty much on top of one another as we opened drinks. I drank wine in a long-stemmed glass. We were chattering and talking and the kids were bored because it was like a party you’d go to when you were a teenager. There were no wienies to roast, no marshmallows. We had nothing for the kids. Gary was getting upset. Because his girls were getting upset. Because the space was so small. Because we were all drinking and chattering about silly gossipy stuff like we hadn’t a care in the world. Finally, he threw up his hands and lit into us, “You’re not seriously going to sit here all night and drink like this are you?!” Etc. Etc. And the more he ranted, the more he paced in our little area. Sherry didn’t seem to understand why he was upset. She was all like, “Oh my God, have I done something? Are you mad at me? What’s going on?” I could see Stacy and Carol rolling their eyes at one another as if to say, “Men! They just look for any excuse to ruin a good time!” I was watching Gary pace and saying, “Be careful of the edge. Be careful. You’re gonna fall in.” But nobody seemed to even hear me.

Sure enough he stepped back too far and dropped into the water. He didn’t fall down, but kept his footing, though the water was up to his thighs. Then everyone laughed, including him, and we decided maybe we’d rather go to their house and hang out instead.

And such is the way of dreams.

Mood: giddyDrinking: coffeeListening To: snowmobiles on the riverHair: needing something, but I’m not sure what